ᐅ Healthy Building – What Is Important?

Hello everyone!

The whole process of planning and building is really difficult and slow. At every new step, I feel like no one can tell you the right way to proceed, and a lot of it is learning by doing...

Well, we managed to complete a design draft with our architect that we like. I will share it in another thread soon. Now I am focusing on how the house could be built. Ideally, I would like to build turnkey with a local general contractor (GC), alternatively by contracting individual trades – but looking at the price expectations from the architect and the structural engineer, that might be too expensive for me...

I would like to build a “healthy” home for my family. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not obsessive about it. But when I read brochures from companies like Baufritz and others, it makes you think. Wall construction is one thing – I prefer solid construction and no polystyrene, that already makes me feel quite comfortable. But what about all the sources of volatile substances, adhesives, PU foam, and so on...

What can I do, and what have you done, to ensure the healthiest possible living environment? Do windows have to be installed without foam? Should parquet flooring not be glued? What should the homeowner keep in mind?

Thanks,
Gerddieter

We built with a focus on healthy living.
Honestly, it was just by chance because our general contractor builds that way.

No spray foam insulation
Solid wood walls
Adhesives, paints, and all interior materials are approved by the IQUH.

However, this doesn’t help much if, later on, interior furnishings are bought carelessly without consideration for harmful substances.

haydee schrieb:

We built with healthy living in mind.
Honestly, just by chance because our general contractor builds this way.

No spray foam insulation.
Solid wood walls.
Adhesives, paints, and all interior materials are approved by IQUH.

But it doesn’t help much if the interior finishes are bought without any consideration for harmful substances afterward.

Thank you, that helps me.
What does it mean to avoid using spray foam insulation, and where is it typically applied? For example, around windows? What would be the alternatives?

GD

Gerddieter schrieb:

Wall construction is one thing – I would prefer solid construction and no polystyrene; that would make me feel quite comfortable. But what about all the sources of volatile substances, adhesives, PU foam, and so on...

What can I do and what have you done to live as healthily as possible here?

Gerddieter schrieb:

The whole process of planning and building is really difficult and slow. At every new step, I feel like no one can tell you the right way to proceed, and it’s mostly learning by doing...

First of all, building is actually quite simple. You choose a floor plan and have the house built. There are professionals for that. Most homeowners cause the stress themselves because every little detail is selected and questioned. This usually happens only when building a house. Other consumer goods are not questioned in that way, at least not as much as a house.

Regarding the question of how to live healthily, you don’t need to worry. Whatever materials are used, they are not harmful to health. Nothing in a modern house will make you sick. Of course, sustainable and ecological building materials can be considered. They are just different, but not necessarily better.

The first thing that comes to mind for a healthy indoor climate is clay plaster. It will also have the greatest impact.

Gerddieter schrieb:

Thanks, that helps me.
What does it mean not to use expansion foam, and where is it applied? For example, around windows? What would be the alternatives?

GD

Hemp insulation. But honestly, that small amount of expansion foam is not the major issue.

nordanney schrieb:

Regarding the question of how to live healthily, you don’t need to worry. Whatever materials are used, they are not harmful to health. Nothing in a modern house will make you sick. Of course, sustainable and ecological building materials are possible. However, they are just different, not necessarily better.

The dose makes the poison. Depending on the building materials, the VOC concentrations in new constructions are indeed significant or concerning.